instant coffee
5
1.9
- noun
- /ˈɪnstənt ˈkɔfi/
:
café instantáneo
- I made a quick breakfast using just hot water and instant coffee.
- a cup of instant coffee
- a jar of instant coffee
- a teaspoon of instant coffee
Did you guys know that I I manufacture instant coffee pods.
- Did you guys know that I I manufacture instant coffee pods.
- This is lion's mane and chaga plus instant coffee.
Examples
-
The following morning, Nicholas Easter mixed another cup of instant coffee and added two packs of sugar.
Fiction book (1996) -
So we've ordered quite a bit more tea and instant coffee, coffee as well.
-
I only have instant coffee.
-
"Do you have to get up early and make instant coffee?"
Fiction book (1990) -
Early next morning, a Sunday, Peter sat drinking instant coffee.
Fiction book (2001) -
So listen, I got instant coffee for you, Dale.
-
I made some instant coffee in the microwave and took it out the door with me.
Fiction book (1996) -
There's some instant coffee in the cabinet.
-
Joey nods slowly, crossing to a cabinet and taking out some instant coffee.
Fiction book (1992) -
In the evenings, we'd sit together at her kitchen table drinking instant coffee and complaining.
Blog text (11)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A hot drink made by brewing roasted, ground beans with water
How Strong
88
3.2
4
1.0
- Informal
11
5.5
5
1.9
3
2.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'coffee that can be prepared immediately' is directly compositional from 'instant' (immediate/ready at once) + 'coffee' (the beverage). This adjective+noun formation is regular and found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Instant coffee comes from the idea of instant meaning 'ready right away' and coffee. Early makers turned brewed coffee into a dry powder or small pieces so you only add hot water to make a drink fast, and that's why the name means 'coffee you can make quickly and easily'.